Artanis Dawnblood
Artanis Frederick Dawnblood, brother to Zackary Dawnblood, and father to Clementine Dawnblood, is a Forsaken shadowmage. He has been many things across his lifetime, a farmer, a Kirin Tor mage, a soldier, a scholar, a warlock, even a necromancer at a point in his life. He was born and raised in Eastern Lordaeron and raised a child in Western Lordaeron on the Gilnean border. Though Artanis is an undead and is technically an enemy to anyone of the Alliance, he often maintains a neutrality save for in times of open war. He actively hunts demons and hoards artifacts to keep them out of the hands of more questionable types. He is known for being calculating and cold, but as compassionate as one in his position can be from time to time. He is extremely intolerant of any demon, and often tracks them down after finding them to slaughter them. Biography Artanis was born in the farmlands to the west of Dalaran in Lordaeron to Frederick Dawnblood, a Kirin Tor mage specializing in portals, and Amelia Dawnblood, a Quel’dorei priestess. He grew up on the border between Gilnean and Lordaeronian lands. Artanis had two siblings, a younger brother and sister. His brother, Zackary, was born when Artanis was two, and his sister, Amelia was born when he was three. His sister was taken by a fever when she was six months old. Artanis was raised to follow the path of his father, due to his natural affinity for pyromancy. However, Zackary decided to follow the path his mother walked, and joined the clergy. The brothers were separated for many years, Artanis spending most of his days in Dalaran, Zackary moving north into eastern Lordaeron. Artanis married a common woman and had a daughter with her, the day of his daughter’s birth, his father was presumably killed when a portal he was experimenting sucked him inside. The two brothers did not see each other until the outbreak of the Third War, when each enlisted in the Lordaeronian war against the Scourge. Zackary was in charge of a small detachment of soldiers, and Artanis was, of course, a mage sent to support the main troops. Artanis fought alongside his brother under Prince Arthas’s tutelage until the Culling of Stratholme. Zackary fought on loyally until his men were all killed, but Artanis left with the forces that withdrew with Uther. When Lordaeron began to fall, Artanis was taken when the capitol was attacked by Arthas after returning from Northrend. He died fighting the forces of the Scourge alongside other soldiers who remained from Arthas’s forces. He was raised shortly after his death due to how many undead he killed before falling and was trained as a necrolyte. Artanis served the Scourge faithfully as an unquestioning servant until he was freed alongside Sylvanas Windrunner’s forces. After her slaying of the forces of the Dreadlords who warred for control of Lordaeron’s dead, he joined the newly formed Forsaken, surrendering his necromancy to fully delve into the power of shadowmancy. It is unknown exactly when Artanis founded The Dark Ones, but rumors circulate that they were created to bring all darkmages and others of a darker temperament under a single banner. As such, Artanis welcomed everyone from commoners who practiced minor curses, to warlocks who were allowed to actively summon and dominate demons at their leisure. Some say that Artanis’s rules became more and more lax the more he investigated the powers of the Nether and fel. After some time, Artanis gained some portion of his mind back and decided that his coven had fallen too far from what he had originally designed, so he then proceeded to kill every follower on the world he had colonized for them. Though some survived, they remained shattered and disorganized until the Ashen Eyes took them some time later. It was thought that Artanis was killed when the world was so horribly corrupted by the dark rituals that his Dark Ones casted, even now the world is subject to spontaneous fissures, flame bursting from said fissures, and even meteor showers. However, this was not the case. After his followers were slain, Artanis decided to move to the realms of mortal men, using a spell of his own design to camouflage himself behind a layer of mimicked flesh. He wandered for a long time, usually offering his services as an enforcer or consultant for hunters of darkmages and demons. For a long time, he worked alongside a mercenary who owned an island just off the coast of the Howling Fjord in Northrend. Artanis functioned as an enforcer, consultant, general loremaster, and teacher to the mercenary. Artanis worked alongside the mercenary and several others, but rarely used his true name, forbidding them to even utter it in public. When his companion became involved with a demon, Artanis warned him against the repercussions of such a relationship, citing his own experiences when he held demons who tried to live outside the Legion a place to stay. Though, his companion gave his warning little heed. After an attack by several demons controlling undead minions on an academy the mercenary and several others started, Artanis could tell that his friend was slipping, though he could not see it himself. Artanis confronted his friend during a moment of turmoil, and his friend snapped. The mercenary used his druidic powers to create spined vines around Artanis, lifting him up into the air and slowly crushing every bone in his body, save for his chest. Artanis simply stared at his friend, even as his eyes were gouged out violently by the vines. Despite Artanis’s background, and him being a teacher at the academy of a dark art, the mercenary’s other companions condemned his actions as horrid and savage. Artanis’s closest apprentice took him to safety and, along with his other followers, slowly rebuilt him. When they were done, Artanis wandered for a long time, losing all communication with his followers. When at last his journey brought him back to the lands of his youth, he came across his brother, now a grizzled witch-hunter. His brother saw what he was and was disgusted by it, a short battle ensued, during which Zackary stabbed Artanis’s heart. But Artanis shortly thereafter was awakened yet again. Thinking his brother could not be killed, Zackary imprisoned Artanis inside a tomb that would be constantly guarded by the elite of Zackary’s order. After Artanis was freed, he reluctantly joined his daughter's Ashen Eyes, though he quickly became disillusioned with the order when Clementine began amassing a large force of darkmages to attack her former group. He went to the Promontory preemptively to ask for aid to neutralize Clementine's forces. When the lord agreed, he returned to Nethervale and slaughtered Clementine's forces, capturing his daughter and sending her to the Promontory's strongest magical prison. With the threat of his daughter neutralized, Artanis has begun training the next generation of Shadow Marshals to combat the evil of the world. For some time, Artanis went into hiding, not emerging other than to train especially promising Shadow Marshals to become a higher ranking. When word reached him and the Marshals that the Dark Portal was reopening to a time-warped Draenor, he immediately came from hiding and mobilized the entirety of the Marshals to pursue any threats on the other side of the portal. Namely, he sought to annihilate the Legion's presence on Draenor by any means. Appearance Artanis's firstly notable trait is that he lacks eyes. They were gouged out by a companion of his after an arguement, and he never decided to recreate them. He often wears the attire of a darkmage, and will only hide his nature if he deems it absolutely necessary. He has long, often greasy black hair, and a beard that he often keeps trimmed, though quite long. Beneath his skin, he is very little more than a skeleton with some flesh remaining, but his spell keeps him from being too exposed, and allows him to blend in among most. Family Frederick Dawnblood: Father, presumed deceased Amelia Dawnblood: Mother, deceased Clementine Alforth: Wife, deceased Clementine Dawnblood: Daughter, alive Zackary Dawnblood: Brother, deceased Evelyn Dawnblood: Sister-in-law, unknown Aliara Dawnblood: Niece, alive Jasus Dawnblood: Nephew, deceased OOC/Misc information Character inspiration: Revan (Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic). (Every super hero need his) Theme Music (Lyrical): Cirice - Ghost OOC character age: 6 years (more at request)